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A bipartisan bill introduced by Congressmen Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Bill Johnson (R-OH) unanimously passed the House of Representatives tonight bu a vote of 384-0, taking legislation that would save local governments in New York’s Capital Region and across the country one step closer to becoming law. H.R. 3588, the Community Fire Safety Act, would exempt fire hydrants from an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation of lead in drinking water that could force municipalities to replace non-compliant hydrants at a large cost to the taxpayer. Video of Congressman Tonko’s floor speech in favor of the legislation can be found here.

“This commonsense legislation eliminates an unintended consequence of a recent law enacted to enhance public health. No one is getting a steady supply of drinking water from the fire hydrant at the end of their street, so we should not add to the heavy burden our local governments with constrained budgets already experience,” said Tonko. “We can all agree that our water supply and public health should be held to the highest standard, but reasonable fixes must always be considered if it looks like resources are going to be wasted.”

The current law could ban the installation of non-compliant hydrants after January 4, 2014, leaving towns and cities no option to replace hydrants in the event of an emergency. The bill recognizes that hydrants are not intended to be a major source of drinking water and addresses this public safety risk by ensuring that legal hydrants will be readily available for installation and replacement.

Congressman Tonko began looking into the issue after being contacted by a constituent, alerting the Representative’s office to the problem. H.R.3588 is expected to pass the Senate and be signed into law by President Obama before the January 4^th deadline.

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